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Nets Free Agency Notes: Pierce, Blatche, Livingston

July 1st, 2014 at 2:24 PM By Richard N. Funaro

Today marks the start of one of the busiest days on the league's calendar: the opening of free agency. With a market headlined by LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kyle Lowry, and others, the first couple days of this year's free agency period figures to be an especially busy timeframe.

While the Nets have virtually no chance at signing any of the top tier free agents, the team has so far been busy making calls to express interest in various players. Check back here throughout the course of this very busy day for updates on Brooklyn's free agency news:

- Stefan Bondy of the New York Post reports that GM Billy King has said that he has contacted each of the Nets free agents except for PF/C Andray Blatche. While Blatche has said that he wants to remain in Brooklyn, both sides seem as though they are prepared to move on. According to Basketball Insider's Alex Kennedy, Blatche feels he may end up with the Pelicans in New Orleans. There appears to be little room in the Nets already limited payroll to re-sign each of the team's free agents (Paul Pierce, Shaun Livingston, Alan Anderson, and Blatche), so at least one of those four is a lock to leave.

-Speaking of Livingston, the former 2004 first round pick's phone number appears to be one of the most popular early on in free agency. The 28-year-old guard has already received interest from at least five teams, including the Hornets, Kings, Magic, Spurs, and Timberwolves (according to ESPN's Marc Stein). With the departure of Jason Kidd as coach and the inability of the Nets to match another team's higher offer, it appears Livingston is as good as gone.

- Knowing that they will likely loose Livingston, the Nets have contacted Sebastian Telfair as a possible replacement (according to Basketball Insider's Alex Kennedy). The 29-year-old Brooklyn native played in China this past season. In his last full NBA season (2012-2013), Telfair played in 59 games for the Suns and Raptors, averaging 16.6 minutes/game, 5.6 points/game, and shooting 36.2%.

- Stein also tweets that the Nets believe they can re-sign Paul Pierce, but that the Los Angeles Clippers could make a strong push to sign the free agent small forward. The Clippers are of course coached by Doc Rivers, Pierce's former head coach in Boston. Pierce would be an upgrade for the Clippers over current small forwards Matt Barnes, oft-injured Danny Granger, and Jared Dudley.